"Bold" Arsonist Tries To Burn Down Wynwood Warehouse Twice In One Night

If at first you don't succeed, just set a few more fires and hope that this time the firefighters can't get there quick enough. That was the mindset of an arsonist in Wynwood last night who tried to burn down a warehouse near North Miami Avenue and 29th Street, only to be foiled by firefighters. When they left, the firebug sneaked back in and gave it another shot.

Fire investigators this morning are interviewing the building's owner to try to figure out whether anyone who works at the company may have wanted to burn down the warehouse or if the arson spree was carried out by a vagrant.

"We have to check to see if there's anything going on with this company that might lead to an arson," Carrol says. "But a crime by vagrants in the area is also a possibility."

Carrol declined to identify owner of the warehouse, located at 31 NW 29th St., just around the corner from Wynwood mainstays like the Electric Pickle and Jimmyz Cafe.

State records show the building is owned by a Centerpoint Group VIII LLC, which is registered to a North Bay Village man named Sirphan Knattongcome.

Firefighters were first called at 8:45 p.m. to the warehouse, which is mostly abandoned but does hold some restaurant equipment, after a passerby noticed thick smoke billowing from a side door.

They found at least three different fires blazing around the warehouse, Carrol says, with clear signs of arson. They put out the blaze in around 25 minutes, and eventually cleared the scene for investigators to return in the morning.

Then, around 4 a.m., another passerby flagged down a CBS4 news truck to report that more smoke was coming from the warehouse. The news team called firefighters, who returned to find four new fires raging inside the building.

"This person was determined to try to destroy this building," Carrol says.

Tim Elfrink is an award-winning investigative reporter, the managing editor of the Miami New Times and the co-author of "Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era." Since 2008, he's written in-depth pieces on police corruption, fatal shootings and social justice issues across South Florida. He's won the George Polk Award and has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.